Ball joints have long been common on motor vehicles. The earlier designs comprised a metal housing having a spherical, concave socket that received a complementary spherical metal ball that was at the end of a threaded stud. Because of the metal-on-metal construction, the mating parts experience rapid wear and required regular lubrication. Later ball joint constructions incorporated a self-lubricating plastic insert for encasing the ball for movement within the socket. This self-lubricating construction has experienced failure under high compressive loads.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved self-lubricating ball joint construction.